The Medium
by Dragons Chaotica
Summary: When Sasuke is incompacitated by the spirits of his vengeful family, he needs help to find the one person who could save him. His long absent cousin Jun. Lets hope Itachi and a few of Sasuke's friends can help. Yaoi
1. With No One To Hear You Scream

Jun: "So I get to be in a story that isn't crack?"

Me: "Yup, you, Sasuke, and Itachi star in this one. Edo gets to be in it too, 'cause I like him."

Jun: "Nice. She owns nothing but a possibly disastrous story."

-Dreams-

* * *

The dreams were common by now. Almost familiar in fact.

They weren't of his clans massacre any longer, he almost wished they were. He remembers a boy, a little older than himself, with deep black hair and pale skin, typical of an Uchiha. The boy was, different, at the same time. Always a bruise or a wound to mar his otherwise predatorily beauty. The marks were never easily seen, they were always hidden, but they always seemed to make their presence known. It was scary, how something unseen could reflect so much hurt.

His molten silver eyes reflected pain beyond his years, but he always hid it when he was around mother and him.

The dreams were mostly of the boy, whose name he can't ever remember, Itachi and Shisui. In the dreams, phantom memories dance in his subconscious. The boy, talking with him, playing with him. Taking walks. Sasuke asking why his arm was bent funny. At such a young age, he never knew it was impolite to ask.

The boy was a few years older than him, so he spent some time with Itachi. He always thought it odd, when he woke up, that while the boy and Itachi were obviously close friends, why he only ever hung out with him while he, Sasuke had been in the immediate vicinity. If Sasuke left the house, the boy stood abruptly, cast an apologetic look at Itachi, and followed the younger of the brothers.

The boy carried weapons, at all times. He never smiled in public. He was constantly in pain, physically. And seemed to writhe in mental agony. Even as a child he knew that was the wrong way for someone who wasn't even a genin to be.

When the dreams progressed, he was older. Both of them, and Shisui and Itachi. He was at the Academy, the boy was too, shadowing his every step. Those silver eyes, always so comforting grew colder, to all but him. A face that once embodied the essence of mistrust, grew more predatory. He scared people, even at this young age. He never scared Sasuke or the other two Uchiha's, Itachi and Shisui. He was safe, familiar, they knew he would never hurt them, and they were aware that he could.

Sasuke dreamt of the time he was hit by a kunai during practice, he had needed stitches. The boy had helped him to the hospital. But never came to school the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that.

Sasuke wonders in his waking hours, why he never knew where the boy lived, he was a relative, after all.

When the boy did return, a strange thin mark showed persistently from under his collar. Young dream Sasuke didn't know what it was. Waking Sasuke did.

Whip.

He had been beaten, viciously, why?

* * *

Sasuke blearily opened his eyes. These dreams were so real. So vivid, he woke in a cold sweat nearly every night. Muscles shaking, legs unable to support his weight, bile rising in his throat. The way this boy was treated was sickening, and while the dreams wouldn't be particularly scary in themselves. The feelings they caused were. In these dreams, he was little Sasuke. Memories of feelings long left behind were reawakened.

He couldn't live with that again.

Having long since returned to the village after completing Tsunade's mission. Or missions…One was to go to Orochimaru and gather information, then destroy him. The next part of the mission was to destroy as many Akatsuki members as possible in his quest to kill Itachi. By doing so, his family in the Leaf Village would be safe.

Sakura with her warm green eyes, and charming laugh.

Naruto's never-ending addiction to ramen.

Neji's standoffish attitude.

Kakashi's disturbing ways….

These were just a few of the things he had learned he could never live without. His family. Because of this, he had taken the mission. Only he, and Tsunade had known. He hated every wound he inflicted, every life he took, every friend he betrayed. But it had all been worth it. He doubted any of the Akatsuki had actually died, no matter the evidence, but they were definitely not threats to his home anymore.

But shortly after his return, after the anger and rejoicing was done, he had started noticing things.

Light bulbs exploding, things being moved from their original place. Voices and apparitions, just beyond sight and hearing.

He had told Tsunade, fearing that his fragile sanity had broken. She worried too. And had prescribed sleeping pills and anti-psychotics. Soon, he had stopped behaving erratically due to the anti-psychotics, but the nightmares persisted.

The voices became more pronounced, he began to see people moving around. He realized one day with a start, they were the massacred members of his clan. Unable to be shepherded to the underworld by Anubis, as is what usually happens. They were left behind. Yet another mystery.

The gory apparitions followed him, and he let them. They were still his family, after all. He could live with the blood, just to have them for a short while.

Later, as the relief passed, he began to think he was crazy once again. And he began to fear these apparitions. They whispered strange things, things that sounded innocent, but scared him.

"Sasuke, you're home. It's nice to see you."

The simple statement by his aunt, Chiyo who had been a baker, terrified him. The voice was the same, she looked the same, if not for the stab wound, but he feared her irrationally.

He would need to figure out why. And he suddenly knew he needed t find out who the boy was, from his dreams. He had not seen him among the ghosts.

So he followed his former steps to the secret Uchiha meeting room, with his deceased uncle Taro, Chiyo's husband.

There were of course files, for every Uchiha. He looked them all over and was about to give up, blaming the dreams on an overactive imagination, when he noticed a false back on the cabinet. He wouldn't have found it, if he hadn't knocked his hand on the back of the cabinet when he was putting the other papers away.

He removed the papers and files once more, and opened the back….more papers.

He removed them as well, and left for training, after placing all of the papers in a bag, so he could bring them with him. Perhaps Kakashi, or Naruto or someone would help him look through all of these.

* * *

"Sasuke-teme! What's with the bag?" Those were the first words out of his best-friends mouth when he arrived.

Sasuke didn't answer at first, weighing the pro's and con's of telling Naruto what was really going on. Before he made the decision, Kichi, a cousin of his drifted into the field behind Naruto.

He instinctively knew he couldn't say anything about his investigation in front of the ghost.

Naruto, whilst not the brightest of ninja, was able to tell the difference between Sasuke's look of curiosity, an oddity for Sasuke, but the expression he was wearing when he arrived. Indecision, the look he had worn when the blonde had asked about the bags. And absolute fear, he had never seen that on his friends face before, and for him to wear this new expression, something bad was definitely behind him.

Naruto whipped around, following Sasuke's line of vision, and saw nothing.

_**'The cub sees the ghost, Kit.**_' Kyuubi hissed

_'Ghost? What?'_

And Kyuubi let him see. The man was mid-height and young. With blood showing from the slit in his throat. And he was undeniably an Uchiha.

"Sasuke, lets go to Ichiraku. We can talk there."

Sasuke knew that he had seen. And he could only hope that the spirit wouldn't follow him to a crowded area, lest someone else see.

When the two reached Ichiraku, Sasuke opened the bag and added half of the stack of the new papers to Naruto.

"These are what was in the bag. I need help getting through all of them, I cant do it in the compound, something tells me not to let them see."

He was shaken, understandably so. But shaken, was unusual for him.

"Do you want to stay at my place for a while?" Naruto whispered "Maybe they-"

"They can go anywhere, I need to stay with them, or they come looking, I don't want them near you." Sasuke said softly "I'm scared, Naruto. I'm afraid of my own family, how sick is that?"

"About as sick as the fact that dead, gory people are following you. I can see why you're afraid." Who wouldn't be? Even the mighty Sasuke Uchiha withered before something. "What am I looking for?"

"A boy." Sasuke replied immediately "With silver eyes, he looks hawk-like. Handsome for someone his age, and may have a bruise or other mark somewhere." He finished hurriedly, "I know it sounds crazy, but I need to see if he is real. I'm supposed to know, I just don't know why I'm supposed to know."

And they did find him, an hour later, after learning of a side-branch even an Uchiha heir didn't know of. After learning of the brand they used to mark them as such. And after learning that a side-branch member was assigned to each main-branch, and they paid in physical pain for each time a main-branch member in their care was injured, no matter how menial. Sasuke had gotten slivers, and fallen down and other things as a child.

The boy had had a mark for each time he was hurt.

Skinned knees, slivers, the kunai. He had been a reckless child, the other boy had paid for it. He lived only to serve him. He was not meant to have friends or feelings.

Sasuke's mind flashed to the latest of the dreams, with the little black wolf cub. It followed the boy around after he and Sasuke freed it from a trap. He wondered what ever happened to Amoraq as they had named it. The boy had kept it as a pet, secretly. And the cub had saved Sasuke from hurting himself on more than one occasion. He couldn't imagine it dying, even now.

"Jun Uchiha, Side-branch, assigned –Sasuke Uchiha. Siblings, Chosaku and Shoji Uchiha. Parents- Kita and Hiro Uchiha." Naruto recited "and since your 16 now he would be 18. That's all of the information I can find on hi- The paper is a fold over. One second." As Naruto read the words inside Jun's file his eyes widened.

_**"Under surveillance, close ties to Torike Hyuuga, heir to main branch of the Hyuuga."**_

" D'you think Neji or Hinata know anything about this Torike person?" Naruto said with a gasp

"I don't know, Naruto, but I need to get home. Would you keep this file for me? I need to try and get some sleep" And he went home.

Naruto definitely agreed he looked like he needed sleep. He looked exhausted. It was one of the reasons he was being so serious. Sasuke needed help, he would be there for him all the way.

* * *

Quarter past one in the morning, Sasuke rolled over again, only to find Chiyo's face next to his.

He yelled, of course.

"_You need to come, child. You need to relax your muscles to sleep, a nice bath would be nice, don't you think? Then maybe you can get some sleep." _

She said the words sympathetically, and even that didn't stop the shadow of fear.

"It's late, I'm not getting up to take a bath." He growled

"_The water is warm, the bath salts smell nice, we don't want you getting sick. Just this once, trust me."_

"Hell, no!" The words were out before he could help it.

A shadow crossed her eyes, cold and dead and white eyes, oh how he wished she would just leave him in peace.

"_Why are you scared of us? It's your fault we're dead!' _She shrieked_ 'That crazy brother of yours thought we were going to hurt you to get the demon out, we would never have hurt you! Mikoto would never have allowed it. Do you want a death god in you?" _She accused "_A black corrosive soul eating yours. Do you want Anubis to devour your sanity? He would have killed you! And knowing this you turn your back on a well-meaning aunt? How dare you!"_

'I'm a jinchuuriki..he thought through the daze. A god, inside me…Why am I not more powerful…

As if she read his mind she said softly

"_The boy, who was supposed to protect you, Jun. Was power-hungry. He was supposed to guard you, but he wanted out. So when the others were dead he took our parts of Anubis and since we all needed to hold the parts until you turned 16, he could take them. Then the greedy little thing fled the scene with his brothers. He left us for dead. He took your birthright and skipped dimensions with a forbidden jutsu."_

And then she spoke plainly

"_Come, take that bath and relieve some stress."_

He was too shocked to argue, he was still scared, a part of him still knew and loved Jun. He would never do that to him without reason. But he let himself be pulled to the bathroom.

"_Test the water dear, I won't hurt you like that side-branch, Hyuuga loving traitor. He would hurt you, I never will." _Aunt Chiyo crooned

And as he sunk to his knees robotically, something hit him from behind, something held his head underwater. And the ghostly compulsion over him broke, he fought back, hard.

And couldn't get air, the world was going black and red and the dots were everywhere and he knew he was stupid to give in and Jun wasn't the one trying to hurt him and his aunt was drowning him and he couldn't get a grip on her to fight her off and others were helping and he couldn't breathe!

All of his thoughts ran together, as he gave in and tried to breathe. His body jerked once and went limp. And the spirits released him.

* * *

Itachi gently cradled his younger brother, glad he had come when he did. He gently coaxed the water from his lungs as he pulled the unmoving body to the door. Carrying the limp form to the hospital.

He would be fine, this time. But they needed to stop this from happening again. Itachi would tell him when he woke. Tsunade had welcomed the faux- Akatsuki members to the village. He could care for him again. But, they needed someone who wasn't present, and he may be the only one with enough power to disperse the spirits.

They needed Jun.

* * *

I want you guys to read and review. And thank Yami's Devil for making me go through and completely redo the story.


	2. Stigmatic Cousins

Jun: "Chapter two? Anything interesting gonna happen?"

Me: "You never know."

Sasuke: She owns nothing. But a good case of psychosis I guess.

Sasuke was slightly delirious when he awoke.

His brother was asleep on a chair next to a…Hospital bed?!...With his hair out of its custom ponytail and his torso on the bed next to him, with his head in his arms.

There was no way his brother would be here. Let alone staying. He looked blearily at the pole holding all of his medicines. Yup, he recognized that one, morphine. He must be pretty banged up.

"Sasuke, go back to sleep, it's too early, you need rest. And I need you rested for what we need to do."

"Um, in case you haven't noticed, my S-rank criminal _brother_ is worrying over me in a hospital room, in the village he betrayed. I have heavy doses of painkillers in my system, and I have ghosts trying to kill me. I _am_ asleep. Because I am _dreaming."_

Itachi rolled his eyes.

"Tsunade and Sakura will be here in a bit, to check you over and fill you in. I will go get something to eat, now that you're awake." And he stood and left.

Sasuke allowed himself to relax slightly, until he realized that he could feel his head throbbing and his chest aching, from the bathtub incident. Not dreaming. Damn.

He leaned back a bit farther using the position control on his bed. Then he allowed himself to go over what he knew so far. He had a cousin, a _**LIVE**_ one, who was in an alternate dimension, with a god meant for him inside of him. Scratch that, too big of a problem to hash out under pain meds.

He had ghostly relatives trying to kill him. Bad in a strange, Sci-fi way. Not sure he liked how this was turning out.

And the cousin (Who he would not think about now, 'because it hurt his head) had close ties with the former heir of the Hyuuga clan. That boggled his mind.

"Sasuke-san? You have a few visitors. May I let them in?"

Sasuke, in his drug induced state, dubbed the nurse, random-too-happy-chick-1, or random chick #1 for short.

"Sure why not." He sighed "maybe I'll get lucky and they will say something amusing."

The nurse eyed him strangely, and left, to get his guests he assumed.

She returned with Neji, Hinata, Kakashi and Naruto. All of whom promptly sat down around the bed. The nurse left after seeing this.

"So what happened?" Kakashi seemed to be speaking for everyone but Naruto, who knew damn well what happened. "They told us you almost drowned. And it seems like you were held under, but nobody was there. Were you attacked by a rival ninja?"

His sensei was nice, he decided, it was nice to have people to worry about you.

Right, nice sensei wanted answers. Well, how about, 'oh my dead aunt knew that I found out about my super powerful cousin, so she used her super-special-awesome ghost powers to daze me so that she could drown me in my own bathtub. Only to be saved by my S-class missing nin brother, who was here a bit ago, did you see?' No, that wouldn't work.

"You should tell them Sasuke. And I asked the Hyuugas like you wanted, I have papers." He was strangely sedate. Must be the whole, almost murdered best friend -scared-out-of-his-wits thing.

"Okay, Naruto. Let's see how they take it." He said calmly "I am able to see dead people, and my house is full of them and Aunt Chiyo tried to kill me." He said in a pleasant voice "Happy?"

Kakashi's jaw was open, not that you could tell. (Stupid mask)

Hinata was looking around the room presumably for someone to indicate an inside joke or shout 'Surprise!'

Neji looked worried (Mental note, analyze later)

Naruto looked exasperated

"He is telling the truth. I know it sounds crazy, but. Yeah." Naruto verified loyally

The others knew Naruto wouldn't lie. It was far-fetched, but Neji had come across ghosts before, he was willing to bite.

"The papers, Naruto wanted, were hard to get, my uncle clammed up when this, Torike, guy was mentioned. But we got them, there's not much but we have the file for you." Neji said kindly

Sasuke cocked his head to the side in a birdlike fashion. "Okay, can I see it?"

Neji handed the file over without complaint.

_**Name- Torike Hyuuga (Toh-ree-kay)**_

_**Parents- Kitala Hyuuga, Edward Phoenix**_

_**Siblings-none**_

_**Nin animal associations- White wolf cub, Aniyu.(Uh-Ny-you)**_

_**Predetermined summons- Dragons, wolves, birds, etc**_

_**Assessment- Far above average nin stature, fox demon blood running strong, non-human, Will be powerful clan head.**_

_**Re-assessment 3 months later- While power is strong, heart seems fragile, very emotional, or cold at a moments notice. Cannot risk volatile nature into children, cannot be allowed to reproduce.**_

_**Arranged marriage- Fertile not an option, but has a friend in the Uchiha clan, friend is male, no risk of reproduction, also powerful, will improve standing alliance with Uchiha.**_

Sasuke's eyes widened. They were going to stop him from having children because he was too powerful? This was the boy Jun associated with?

"They were going to marry him off to a male Uchiha?" Naruto exclaimed "That's kind of harsh."

"Not really, Naruto, they were planning on marrying him off to a friend, not just a random guy. It could have been worse." Kakashi said, with interest

"T-t-they were going to m-marry him off to an-n-other guy?" Hinata said shocked

"It's not a big deal, Hinata. Ninja live short lives, nobody cares who you are with, and two powerful men running a clan would probably make them, the clan, more powerful" Kakashi supplied

"I-I know that, K-Kakashi. I d-don't care either, I was j-just sup-p-rised that they w-w-would do that to h-him. Arranged marriages norm-maly d-don't work like th-h-at." Hinata reiterated.

Neji leaned forward to see the paper himself "What happened? Was the contract ever made?"

"In Jun's file, it said they were keeping watch on him because he was hanging out with Torike." Naruto objected

"This file was newer" Sasuke said softly "about a month after Jun's file was updated with that entry."

Another page fell out of Sasuke's hands, another part to his file.

Sasuke picked it up gingerly and read aloud like the last time.

_**Names: Hyuuga, Torike-Uchiha, Jun**_

_**Marriage status- Accepted by both clans to take place their 16th year**_

_**Note: Mikoto Uchiha and Edward Phoenix, tentatively oppose the union. Views to be taken into consideration, for the two to be in love when they marry. Or at least accepting of the union. Both will be told at age 14.**_

_**Objections- Silenced, to take place at age 16**_

Sasuke seemed to have used up his store of lucidness and was gazing absentmindedly out a window. The others were shocked. Arranged marriages did happen, but to use it just to stop one from having children? It was cruel. And strangely both were ten when they disappeared.

"Thanks for the information, Neji." Naruto said "We should all leave him be for a while. He needs to rest before the doctors start coming in."

The others nodded their agreement and left with various parting words.

Sasuke settled back down into the bed and was about to close his eyes when the apparition of Chiyo appeared once more. Sasuke was sluggish yet, and could not fight when she grabbed his shoulders. He _was_ able to scream as her long crooked nails cut surgical lines down both of his arms as she slid her hands from his shoulders to his wrists.

The deep gashes bled freely, and as he heard the door open to admit Tsunade and Sakura, he slipped into unconsciousness.

-Duel Academy, Bathing Springs-

Jun had been very jumpy lately, often scared for no rational reason. As his roommate, Edo knew these things. As his roommate, Edo had tried to wake him up after he collapsed in their dorm. He had resuscitated him, when he lay drowning on the floor, with no water nearby. And he was worried.

As he leaned his long pale back against the cool stone of the artificial waterfall in the bathing springs, the sharp contrast to the steaming, sweet scented water lapping at his hips, he watched his friend resting on a stone bench a few feet away.

"Creeper." Jun teased "Or perv, whichever you prefer."

Edo had always moved easily in the water, and was able to close the distance and capture the others lips in a matter of seconds.

"Honestly you two." Dragonheart teased from her perch on the side of the pool, holding a towel that covered from her underarms to her mid-thigh. "You'd think that after two years you could keep your hands off each other."

Jasmine, sitting next to her, shot her a playful glare. "Don't point it out! They stop when you do that."

The two men in question rolled their eyes and Edo took a seat next to his oldest friend. Leaning his head on the others slender, pale shoulder and beginning to tease his swanlike neck with soft kisses and light nips. Cautiously wrapping one arm around the others waist and moving him so that his head fell back and exposed his throat more.

"Sure you're alright?" He murmured against the soft skin "You should be resting."

Jun groaned softly "I'm fine, just tired."

"Are you sure you don't want to visit the infirmary Jun?" Dragonheart said softly checking her friend for fever. Virtually impossible to detect, seeing as the demon sealed within him had partially merged with his body, making him run a toasty 100 degrees at all times.

Edo and Jun shared a wicked grin as they pulled apart.

"I kind of have a ready made ice pack." Jun smirked.

The experimental blood in Edo had made him run at about sixty degrees on average, also making him closer to a fox demon than the usual test subject.

"Since he is my mate, I'm required to keep tabs on him. So far, barring the whole, _drowning_ thing" Edo punctuated drowning with a glare at the dark haired male "He _does_ seem to just be exhausted."

Jasmine snorted "Yes, downplay the fact that my brother figure almost _drowned_ in his _bedroom_. It happens_ all_ the time."

Dragonheart playfully splashed them all. Plastering Edo and Jun's long hair around their shoulders and waists as well as their heads, Jasmines magenta hair to her back All of them fixed her with a playful glare. They weren't all technically supposed to bathe together, but, it's not like people didn't do it anyway.

Edo's hair frosted over due to his body temperature and the inner demons own personal preferences, but as he began to shiver, Jun began a careful finger comb that defrosted his long white silver hair.

"That's all folks, I don't even use the hairdryer."

The others laughed at the reference. If Vanity Fair asked Edo how he got his hair so shiny, one more time…

All four were 18 and would be here another two years in advanced placement classes. It was a way of attending college without leaving the only home the four of them knew.

As the laughter died down, they were able to hear Jun's gasp of pain. Edo smelt the blood with his heightened senses before the other two saw the long gashes, running from shoulder to wrist, bleeding freely.

Edo, with the most talent in healing, lunged and began trying to heal the scratches. They wouldn't.

"We need to get him to Fontaine." He gasped "Now!"

And they pulled Jun from the pool. Frantically threw on some clothes and rushed to the infirmary. Trying to stop the bleeding.

They were so panicked they almost didn't hear his nearly inaudible whisper of "Sasuke…hold on.."

The name stuck a bell in Edo's mind, he would see to it later.

Three hours later, Edo sat in his dorm that he and Jun usually shared. Reading over files they had stolen from Chosaku and Shoji several years ago, when they came into their powers as demons, and whatever else.

_**Sasuke Uchiha**_

_**Siblings: Itachi Uchiha**_

_**Parents Fugaku Uchiha, Mikoto Uchiha**_

_**Side-branch assignment: Jun Uchiha**_

_**Note: 2nd heir to the Uchiha clan.**_

The paper was old, Sasuke would be 16 by now. And as for Jun being an Uchiha, side-branch and ninja, they already knew that. What he wanted to know is why Jun was injured like this. He was almost positive that it was the brand on his hip that made the two, Jun and Sasuke, like stigmatic twins. The little Uchiha fan shaped burn that Edo had healed most of and concealed, but could never fully eradicate, could it cause all this? Even if that were the case, and Sasuke was hurt… What inflicted those types of wounds?

He left the room and wandered into the living room where Jasmine and Dragonheart were sitting, yet stunned on the couch. He slid in between them and let them cry on him. Their shock, panic and anger that Jun of all people was hurt, by something they couldn't see or defend him from had upset them in the deepest part of their psyches.

"Shhh." He purred softly " He'll be fine, we will see him in the morning."

_'And we will need to find a way to help his cousin after that.' _ The Phoenix tacked on mentally, narrowing ice blue eyes.

Good? Bad? REVIEW!


	3. Short Greetings

Me: "I iz back!

Edo: Please no.

Jun: What?

Edo: She is bubbly. Which means bad things may happen to us.

Jun: She was depressed earlier…I think it's a front.

Edo: You're right, that funeral was hard on her, lets let her write.

Sasuke: She owns nothing!

'Click, click, typetypetypetype, click, click'

"Phoenix, if you are going to be here, keep the tapping down, my head hurts."

Edo smiled at the now bedridden Uchiha. He had found a few things on his cousin Sasuke, but not much. The records were outdated, and they gave no clue on how to get to him.

"If I ask for your help quick are you sure you won't start bleeding again?" Edo asked lightly

"Depends on what you want me to do." Jun replied cautiously, his demon looked a little maniac today. Though it was probably stress. The unnatural power forced into him at a young age made Edo, if anything, more unbalanced then the average Uchiha, he was simply better at controlling it. Yet the shadow still lingered in his eyes.

"Translate this, Mr. Linguist."

And with that, a scroll was thrust under his nose.

Jun took the scroll and cautiously opened it. It was a lot of animals listed, in strange orders.

'Tiger, Cat, Horse, Dragon, dragon, Monkey, Rabbit, Rooster, Ox, Tiger, Dragon, Cat'

"What the hell is this? Animal names?"

"It's a jutsu….." edo said with a look of concern

Jun flushed a delicate pink along his cheekbones. It had been a long time since he had read a jutsu. And he was being mysteriously attacked a lot recently. He had license to be a bit spacey.

"What is the jutsu for?" Seriously, the lost Hyuuga seemed to avoid anything to do with his heritage.

"The ability to travel through time and space."

Jun just stared at him. He knew the other man was nuts. After he was bleeding, then mysteriously healed again, the Phoenix was acting a little spastic. But then again…The jutsu seemed real. Maybe Edo hadn't thrown a few gears off at the loony bin.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"Save your cousin so you don't die.'

Can't argue with that logic.

"When do we leave?"

"When Heart and Jazz get here."

'Knock, knock, knock, creeeeeek.' "We're here!

"I change my previous answer to, right now."

Jun was beginning to think it was a good thing they had practiced in the ways of their clans. Mainly they used their demon powers, but a nice Hyuuga defensive trick worked wonders. So did an Uchiha offensive trick. And if you mixed them, they were near unstoppable.

"Aren't they going to find it odd that four non-ninjas just popped in?"

"Probably."

And then the jutsu was performed and they were off.

-Tsunade's office-

"You expect me to believe that you," She gestured to the tall man with white/silver hair "are Torike Hyuuga. And that you," She gestured to the dark man" are Jun Uchiha? Seriously?"

She was not convinced, she had babysat them both. No way that they were those two. The two that they were impersonating were long dead by village record.

"You gamble…A lot." Edo said with a nod "And you like sweet rolls, more than sake, but you go with sake because it has fewer calories."

Tsunade blanched. Okay, so it WAS Torike…Little sarcastic brat. Can't deny he grew up well though. Hiashi was going to be pissed.

"And you?" She said carefully to the other. Normally she was harder to win over, but the sweet roll thing was not even known by Shizune, Torike was the only one trusted with that, because he had been_ four_.

"You are 56 years old, and you eat the frosting on your cake last, because you like to save the best for last."

"I can't believe you two aren't dead! We were all told you were dead! How are you not dead?"

"Well, I was kidnapped." Jun said blandly, a soft growl shading the monotone.

Tsunade just watched her young friend close off most emotion. Worried that like most kekkai genkai weilders that he was showing some form of psychosis.

"Exile, the Hyuuga were a little scared of me." Edo interrupted her thought with his own explanation. "They sent my Mother and Father with me. So I guess that fear extended to anybody close to me."

Understatement. But, it worked.

"And these two lovely ladies?" Tsunade asked curiously, the two women had been waiting in the corner since their arrival.

The shorter, dark-haired one stepped forward and bowed slightly.

"Dragonheart Kaiba, my lady. I'm just here for emotional support."

Tsunade was quite sure a stiff wind could kill the girl. And was quite pleased that she wasn't backup in case of a fight. She would no doubt be a nice speedbump as the attacker slaughtered her friends.

The magenta haired woman stepped forward, Tsunade was reminded instantly of some combination of Tenten and Sakura. Sakura for her abnormally strange hair, and Tenten for her tomboy attitude.

"Jasmine Winters, also emotional support." She said drolly "In truth though, we are no longer needed. So we will be headed back shortly."

Tsunade couldn't help the chuckle. Most brought armed guards to deal with her. Two teenagers had brought a couple of noncombatant women. It was amusing.

Edo's eyes widened "Sorry guys, if you give me a sec, we will send you back."

And so the jutsu was cast again, to return the guy's two closest friends to their own world. Leaving them both rather tired.

After a short rest and a soldier pill however they were ready to continue.

"I am guessing you want to find Sasuke now?" She waited for them to nod "Hospital. Go"

Yes it was rushed and horrible. Please review..read too.


	4. Demonic Introductions

Edo: She owns nothing.

Jun: Except faulty eyeglasses she doesn't wear.

* * *

They didn't go to the hospital immediately. Edo was nervous about his family's reception. Jun was terrified of facing his last relatives, who may think he had just abandoned them.

And thus, they sat at Ichiraku, Edo picking at skim ramen while Jun tried to eat something other than the liquids he had been on since the near drowning. Beef ramen with little meat and few noodles.

"You know Jun" Edo began "I don't think you have much to worry about, Your family lobes you. I'm sure they will hear you out."

Jun finished drinking the broth of his ramen and set the bowl down with a small tap. "You're probably right." Jun said with a sheepish smile "As always."

"Glad to see we are on the same page."

"Uchiha?"

Both men stopped what they had been doing, Jun opening his mouth to reply to his mate, and Edo eating the last noodles out of his bowl.

"Hai?" Jun said nervously, turning around to face the unknown voice.

Instead he faced a deranged battle cry and a kunai to the face.

Rather than being wary, or oblivious, their first act had been to attack Jun with kunai. Apparently, since growing his hair out. He looked like Itachi. And while Itachi was now welcome in the village, the announcement was to be made later, hence, the attempted stabbing.

And by attempted, it means Edo grabbed the blade of the kunai a mere inch from Jun's face, thus laying his hand wide open and dousing both his arm and Jun's face in crimson.

In retaliation Jun slashed the man across the face with his claws.

They of course carried him to the hospital anyway. And after Edo's hand was bandaged and the blood mostly cleaned from their skin and clothing they decided to go find Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke smiled gently in his drug induced state. Sakura stayed with him day and night, which made him happy. And Neji, was keeping her company, he decided lazily that he really liked Neji too. Though he didn't like Sakura spending so much time with him. She should go home. For a while at least. Naruto, Hinata and Kakashi were back. They had even brought Gaara for reasons unknown.

They had once again been discussing the supposedly dead family members Hyuuga and Uchiha when a gentle knock interrupted the conversation.

"Come in!" Sasuke called softly.

They expected a nurse, doctor, random fan girl, or possibly Tsunade. They didn't expect two tall men who looked like mirror images of each other, differing only in eye color and hair color.

The man in front bore an eerie resemblance to Itachi Uchiha, minus the lines by his nose. His eyes were molten silver and his skin looked paler than snow. Both of their complexions did. He was tall and lithe, and was, true to Uchiha standards, gorgeous.

The man standing behind him looked much the same, though he bore no real resemblance to Itachi, he also had silver-white hair and icy blue eyes.

Kakashi was the first to regain composure "And you are?"

Thefirst man smiled, flashing a bit of fang "Jun Uchiha, pleasure to make your acquaintance Kakashi Hatake."

His voice was a little hoarse, but it still managed to sound like crushed velvet.

Neji looked up "How do you know him?" This kind of thing just didn't happen, you didn't talk about supposedly dead people, only to have them show up, midway through the conversation.

The man slightly behind the alleged Uchiha, was every bit as tall and lithe, his skin tone so pale that his white/silver hair stood looked like a painting, or a statue, so they were reasonably surprised when he spoke.

"We know all of you. Tsunade filled us in before we came." He said kindly. The ninja marveled at his voice. Every bit as soft as Jun's but if Jun's voice was like crushed velvet, this man's was pure silk.

Sakura decided this was enough. "Why do both of you look, and sound, like, like…"

Another soft smile from the second man. "we are demons, we are supposed to be physically attractive to lure our prey. Our voices are no different. I'm Torike Hyuuga …Though I actually go by Edo Phoenix now."

"Thanks for clearing that up, Mr. Phoenix." Sakura said in shock.

"And who are the lovely ladies?" An obnoxious voice called from behind the four

"Pervy Sage!" Naruto shouted immediately leaping from his seat on loopy Sasuke's bed to gesture violently at the white haired older man.

Jiraiya walked calmly over between Edo and Jun and slid an arm around each of their waists, and pulled them closer to him. Laughing he asked if they would model for his next book.

Edo was not pleased, nor was Jun.

"If you don't let us go, old man, I'm going to castrate you." Hissed Jun

While the other nin mused on how Jiriah had mistook two men for women, a slight chirping noise began filling the room. At first Kakashi thought Sasuke was accidentally activating chidori, until he looked over at the two men. Edo standing in a relaxed manner didn't look stressed, worried or angry, but looking at one of his hands, with fingers lightly outstretched, he noticed a problem.

Edo's partially curled, clawed hand seemed to be showing emotion that its owner was not. Torike's hand seemed to be giving off the chirping noise as a small chidori like flurry of sparks danced around his fingers and up his wrist, like he was preparing to throw the tiny jutsu. It looked like it could seriously damage the receiver.

Jun seemed unperturbed, merely smiling at the small display of power. Inwardly though, worrying at the ever deepening shadow in the blue eyes. Sometimes it built up like this, growing and growing until the normally gentle young man lashed out, harming others with vicious displays of power. Jun had never been hurt, but he knew that others had.

"So you're Torike's friend?" Neji asked calmly

"Well, Hiashi's going to be pissed." Neji mused

When given a questioning look from the others, he elaborated.

"You were supposed to marry Jun to prevent you having children." He said apologetically to Edo. Who promptly snorted.

"I don't really want children, but I did wind up with Jun."

Hinata blushed, "Ah,s-s- sorry Hyuuga-s-san, you both just d-d-didn't seem like a coup-ple."

"I don't show much emotion." Edo explained "Comes from being alone and terrified since I was eleven."

Kakashi remembered a tidbit from the file on Torike's disappearance.

"Didn't your father go with you, and your mother? Why would you be alone?"

Jiriah took this moment to escape the room before Jun could make good on his treat, because while he had let them go, Jun seemed to be getting more intense.

"Mom promptly went bananas and now stops in regularly to try and kill me, but dad was murdered one year in. His killer actually adopted me."

That was sick and twisted.

"That's awful." Sakura stated sadly

"Yes, but I expect no less from the man who eventually forced me to destroy my fathers soul."

"Destroy his soul?"

Edo looked away, he wasn't reliving that.

Jun, had slipped to the bed in the midst of this conversation. And was currently stroking drugged up Sasuke's hair back with a tender smile. He always had, had a soft spot for his little cousin. And he could still see the little boy behind the glazed over eyes.

He couldn't wait to talk to him. To hear what he sounded like when able to speak. To know him once this was over. He had his surrogate little brother back, and he wasn't letting anyone take him away again.

Glancing over at precious person, he knew that all of this would work out at some point. He wouldn't lose them.

Sasuke's determination. And strong will

Edo's kind smile and soft voice that made anyone around him, love him.

He could never live without three important people, or any of his friends on Academy Island, and he just was wondering about Itachi, when he walked in.

* * *

Whoo, biiig edits here.


	5. Main Aggression

Edo: Update, damn it!

Me: My, my. Angry are we?

Edo: Impatient. Now do the story.

Alec: She owns nothing but some rater upset muses.

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Itachi paused in the doorway. The two new additions to the room had startled him slightly.

"And, you are?"

Jun's head snapped up to meet the startled Itachi's gaze. And when silver met gray, Itachi promptly sat down on the window seat. Major shock does that to you.

"Jun?"

"Yes, and you're Itachi" Jun said blandly. "Does everyone need to say someone else's name now?"

The other people in the room were slightly startled to see an Uchiha showing an emotion that wasn't rage.

Gaara promptly mumbled something about needing to get some work done, and fled. Hinata followed suit.

Edo cocked his head to the side in a bird-like fashion. "Uh, I think we need to stop him…" He said, staring into the darkened space beyond the curtain separating the bedroom from the restroom.

"Stop who?" Naruto said confusedly "Gaara?"

Jun whipped around and promptly flung a fireball through the curtain. The resulting scream scared the non-demon occupants of the room. As Fugaku Uchiha fell through, frantically trying to put out the fire, that was slowly consuming him.

"How did you light a ghost on fire?" Neji asked in a shocked tone

Jun looked at him with one eyebrow arched "Fire."

"Unfortunately, that's not the one we need to worry about." Kakashi said staring at the writhing ball of flame. Fugaku had ceased to make any noise a bit ago, and now simply silently burned.

"What do you mean?" Edo questioned politely

"Chiyo is the one we need to worry about. She's the one pulling the strings." Kakashi explained.

"Jun's good with evicting spirits. When we get the right materials, it should only take about a day." Edo said softly "Maybe we can prevent anyone else from being injured by these psychotic apparitions."

Naruto, desperate for a subject change asked suddenly "Didn't you have a nin-wolf? What happened to him?"

Edo looked startled for a moment "How do you know about Aniyu?"

Naruto held up the file. They had brought the records to the hospital each day, hoping to maybe figure out something more.

Edo blinked "Oh. Well, that explains it then. Aniyu is with Amoraq back at Duel Academy."

"Amoraq?"

"Jun's wolf. Aniyu's only other member in their pack."

Sakura looked up at that. "Ohhh, that's sweet!"

"Sure." Edo said once more. This was starting to seriously freak him out. He knew nothing about these people and they were asking him questions about himself that he didn't even know had been logged.

"What's Duel Academy?" Naruto questioned

Edo sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. "Look, Naruto, I understand your curiosity, and I know questions are like a coping mechanism for you. Still, this can wait, until the more pressing matters are sorted out."

"How did Jun know where to shoot the fireball?"

Jun fixed him with a glare "Because we share a brain. Anything else?" Honestly he could be focusing on his family but this ninja in a kill-me-suit was asking inane questions.

Naruto looked enlightened "So, if the two of you aren't in the same room, you guys like, go stupid?"

Edo, being a demon with passive element based powers*, had had ice in his gaze more than once, but he doubted he had ever felt the need to skewer the annoyance with said ice before.

He suddenly smiled sweetly "Naruto?"

Naruto, taken aback blinked once before replying "Yes?"

…..

…..

…..

…...

…...

…...

…...

…...

…...

…...

…...

"Shut-up before I kill you."

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Eh, feedback, please. See you next time!

*Passive element based powers, would include water in all of its variations, liquid, ice and vapor, along with water it would include wind.

Jun would have aggressive element powers like Fire or lightning.

Read and review!


	6. The Backstory

Me: Okay, so it's been a while. But Yami's Devil has more or less twisted my arm, and now I have this burning desire to finish my story.

Sasuke: Really, you abandon me in this piece of crap for fricking ever and now you're going to fix it?

Me: Look, I'm sorry.

Itachi: We all had to undergo therapy!

Edo: She wrote me and Jun out of here into other, better stories, but I still feel bad for you guys.

Jun: She owns NOTHING!

* * *

Naruto was of course a little bit shocked by the sudden death threat.

"Hey, why would you say something like that!" He shouted "I'm going to be Hokage someday, you should show me some respect!"

Edo rolled his head back to crack his neck "Then stop being irritating and I won't say stuff like that."

"So let's get to the point, dearies." Jun said smirking predatorily "where's Chiyo?"

"Sasuke has said that they live in his house." Neji tossed in.

Jun nodded. "Very well. We will go and check it out quick. Edo!" He called as he exited the room "You coming?"

Edo tuned on his heel and glided over the floor to reach Jun in the hallway.

"Are we just going to go in and resolve it now?"

"Yes"

"Can we do it alone?"

"No" said a different voice.

Jun whirled around "Itachi, what are you doing?"

Itachi gave him the patented Uchiha you're-an-idiot glare "I'm offering to help, aniki*."

Edo smiled softly at Jun's shocked facial expression, the shadow behind his eyes shrinking under the warm feeling in his heart. He was pleased that Itachi thought so much of his long absent cousin.

"Itachi…" Jun said softly "Thank you."

Itachi smirked, stopping just short of a real smile "So are you going to tell me where you've been?"

And suddenly the soft smile on Jun's lips was gone. "Sasuke and I got home late." He began "we were walking home in the dark, and Amoraq was walking beside Sasuke, like he always did. We got to the outer gate and noticed that none of the lights were on." Jun stopped, his eyes widening in panic.

Edo carefully placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. The memories were always so sharp in a demons mind. Sharpness was rarely a pleasant feeling.

Jun swallowed compulsively and inhaled to begin again "I smelt blood; but Sasuke wasn't old enough to access his piece inside of him. So I started getting a headache, I felt so sick; it must have been my piece of Anubis reacting to the carnage. Every step I took, I felt the bile rising in my throat." Jun looked up at Itachi pleadingly "Sasuke is alive, so he made it to you, right? I sent him when I got hungry, the blood made me so hungry." Jun said, his eyes glazing over as his voice got more sing-song "I got so very hungry." He hissed lowly. "So hungry." He ended sadly.

Edo's grip tightened on his shoulder snapping Jun out of his trance, his mental state was very unbalanced due to the abrupt sealing of Anubis in a vessel that wasn't strong enough to hold him. The later fusion of the demon often times prevented Jun from differentiating himself, from the dark side of the god. Death and blood often sent him into an odd predatory state. Something Edo knew all to well.

"Ah, yes, sorry." Jun said, coming back to himself "I smelt blood, and when I started feeling like I was starving, I realized that the pieces were coming out of the bodies in the compound, and were seeping into me, as I was close to Sasuke, but was closer to sixteen than he. I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen, and Shisui was dead so I couldn't send Sasuke to him, but I knew you had to be fine, so I told him to run home. I had hoped that there were no bodies on the way to the main house." I heard him scream, but I couldn't come. That's how I knew I was wrong.

Itachi looked sympathetic "I don't want to make you relive all of this Jun, can you just tell me why you left?"

Jun looked shocked "I did leave didn't I?"

Itachi began to look worried, it was like talking to a shell, a shell of a man, filled only with the darkest parts of insanity.

"I went into my house, like I always did. Amoraq was whimpering at me, like he was scared, so he followed pressed to my leg. I went inside and Shoji was pulling my Mothers heart out. It was disgusting. And her piece flew to me as well. All of the pieces did. Anubis abandoned my brothers and went to the one with the biggest piece. I hated my parents." Jun continued "they hurt me, even more than was necessary, they hated me."

Jun smiled a grin that stretched his lips to the point of splitting "They hated me enough to tell my big brothers to kill me. But they couldn't with the demon so strong inside of me. But it hurt, oh so badly. It felt like I was being torn from here" Jun touched Itachi's waist "To here." He gestured to Itachi's throat.

"Chosaku said we had to go and as I lay on the floor they pulled me up by my hair and we weren't in the Uchiha compound anymore. They told me my name was Jun Manjoume, and it hurt so badly in my stomach, I agreed. I didn't remember who I was until Edo showed up."

Itachi looked green. "I'm sorry, aniki. They visited my house first and killed my mother and father. Shoji had always been close to Shisui as his guardian and when he killed him, he developed the mangenkyo sharingan, he trapped me in his version of events, where I killed everyone. I believed him after a while." Itachi looked down as Edo shot him a curious look "I don't like feeling like I was a monster, even if I only cared about Mikoto, Sasuke and Jun. I attacked Sasuke, Jun."

The dark haired man's head shot up to look at Itachi directly, a snarl forming on his lips.

"I told him to hate me, and abandoned the village. " Itachi made a placating gesture "I was supposed to kill my clan, so I told the Hokage I was going into hiding. And I left. I had only just returned when you got here."

He expected to be attacked, instead Jun embraced him. "Let's just kill the ghosts and fix our problems later, okay?"

Itachi smiled for what felt like the first time in years "Of course. You were always so serious."

* * *

Aniki= Affectionate term for older brother.


	7. A Little Problem

Me: First weekend of college! Wooooo! Now I update, I'm going to try and get this wrapped up in three more chapters.

Itachi: Three, well, I'm close to getting out of here!

Sasuke: *Rolls eyes* She doesn't own anything.

* * *

Itachi supposed he should have begun to worry when Edo's eyes glazed over. He probably should have run away when Jun told him to. He should have done many things, but standing against something that looked vaguely like the ice demon of the land of snow's scriptures was not one of them.

To be fair, Jun should have seen it coming. He should have dropped back and said something. Should have realized that blood and pain still lingered here. Should have known that the innate hatred inside of Edo was strongest when he smelt it. He should have destroyed the creature, but he couldn't, this was Edo after all, his lover, his friend, his mate, his partner in battle, his teacher. There was nothing to be done really, the darkness in Jun himself was writing in agony at the crystalline light.

The houses had bypassed frost in favor of sealing completely in ice. Edo's blue eyes had turned white, his hair frosting, lips turning blue, claws grew long and jagged.

This hunt in the end, seemed to end in tragedy.

Jun cupped his hands around his mouth "EDO!"

The beautiful _thing_ swung to face him.

"Hiya." It purred pleasantly, cocking its head to the side and exposing fang "What do you need?"

Jun winced as the creature split Edo's lips with a wide smile, blood pouring over white skin from the wounds.

"Oh." Said the creature, dropping its terrifying smile "Does his blood bother you? Does it make you sick?" A chuckle formed deep in its throat.

Jun cast a desperate look at his cousin, laying on his side, mere feet away, blood pooling from the injured arm from an intended fatal wound, blocked by Jun himself. He should have done something when he noticed the shadow. He had always done it before, had promised Edo that he would stop it from consuming him. The other demon had been too young and fragile for one demon to be sealed within him, let alone two. They had lain dormant for years, until the confrontation with the D on his yacht. Destroying Destiny Hero Plasma had unleashed unsavory souls as well as good ones. The dark ones tempted the beast. The one of ice, within Edo absorbed negative emotions from the world surrounding its host, and began to boil over when it became strong enough.

Jun had promised Edo he would stop it. Usually he did. A few days on their own, eating out and a few rounds of duel monsters usually beat it back with enough positive emotion, but Jun had thought he had more time. The vengeful spirits had latched onto the young man with vigor, blackening, and then turning his eyes white. Jun only hoped Edo was still inside.

"Yes, it bothers me!" Jun called back at the thing walked amicably from one roof to another.

Terrifying white eyes looked down, the creatures face shifting to what appeared to be curiosity.

"I love him. And you are causing him pain."

The creature looked confused "I'm not hurting my master."

"We feel more pain than you do, if we bleed we are hurt." Jun said in a gentler tone, hoping against hope that this creature wasn't entirely evil, he would happily settle for tragically misguided at this point.

"Demons share blood all the time, you even take his away, and he takes yours, I just wanted a taste of a new friend." It purred licking some more of Itachi's blood from its claws as it had been doing since it slashed Itachi a half an hour ago.

"That's different, but you hurt his mouth, don't you feel the blood? Wouldn't that hurt you?"

The demons hand flew to Edo's mouth, the body convulsed slightly as he felt the wound. "I don't like it…" the thing hissed quietly.

"Maybe you should let Edo out then, and he can fix it." Itachi called hoarsely from the side.

The demon cocked its head "That hurts too…."

Oh thank Ra, was all Jun could think, it wasn't evil, it just didn't know good from bad, and it must have latched onto negative energy due to its strong nature to get out, polluting the good in the creature, once it got out it was all instinct and dark emotion. Hopefully in the free air it could calm down, maybe even help.

"I feel strange."

Jun's head snapped up "Strange how?" he frantically looked at Itachi, who, while pale, seemed to be doing fine, and watched as his cousin shrugged in confusion.

"My stomach feels funny…" the demon replied hesitantly touching said area as its eyes welled up with tears. "And I'm leaking." It hissed in wonder reaching up to delicately swipe at the eyes.

"Edo?" Jun called "Are you in there?"

He demon hissed and wiggled "Fine, I'll go away, but I want to come out more, I promise I won't hurt anybody, it's just so dark in there, I don't like being in a cage."

"Okay!" Jun promised irrationally "We will let you out for a little while sometimes, but you need to stop this!"

The demon blinked once and fell from the building on which it stood. Jun caught it.

"J-Jun?"

"It's okay, I'm taking you two to the hospital."

"Is Itachi okay?" he whispered between split lips

"I'm fine." Itachi said, staggering over to them "Please don't do it again though."

"I'm sorry." Edo managed.

"It's okay." The Uchiha replied in unison.

"It got really bad when I saw her, sorry I lost it."

"It's fi- which her?" Jun said, startled.

"Whe-!" Edo cut himself off with a yelp, pulling away from Jun to clutch at his mouth, eyes squeezing shut.

Jun started toward him, but Itachi stopped his cousin. "I know some medical ninjutsu, I'll fix his mouth and then we will work this out."

Soon a soft glow gathered around Itachi's hand and he pressed it to Edo's lips, knitting the torn flesh together once more. "Please, continue." Itachi said once the healing was done.

"Sorry about that." Edo said sheepishly "When we entered the compound I activated the byakugan, and I saw a woman behind the main house by the graves, she glared like she could see me, then it all went black after I attacked Itachi." He glanced at said man "Sorry again."

Itachi brushed it aside 'What did she look like?" He asked urgently

"Um" Edo took a step back "She had greying dark hair, she was heavier, and she wore a dress, oh and she had a stab wound I think.."

Jun nodded slowly, Itachi cursed foully, and Edo nodded sadly.

"Chiyo" They said in unison.

"Well boys I think we need more help, even if the ice demon isn't our enemy, it can certainly be persuaded by negative influence." Jun turned suddenly to Edo "We also need to let the demon out now and again, he hates being locked up and promises not to hurt anybody."

Edo just stared wide eyed.

"I'll stay back next time." He grudgingly offered, loathe to let his mate run into danger without him, but realizing he himself could be dangerous.

"That may be for the best." Itachi said as they entered the hospital, nurses and doctors calling the Anbu to deal with the wounded missing nin in the lobby. The three just continued up to Sasuke's room so that Edo could clean and stitch up Itachi's arm. Maybe if Tsunade stopped by to deal with the reports of a hostile ninja in the hospital she would do it, but as it were, it looked like Edo's job.

"Time to rally the troops." Itachi said sharing a conspiratorial look with Jun. The three entered the room, Edo feeling decidedly ill at ease after the childlike evil look the cousins had just shared. He had a feeling they had a plan.

* * *

I actually dislike this, but here it is, review.


	8. Authors Note

Chaotica: Sorry guys, this isn't an update, rather an author's note. After receiving a review complaining about my oc's, I felt the need to say that Dragonheart is an oc who is in this story to show how Edo and Juns lives have progressed since the abandonment of their village. It isn't an overly odd name for both series' (Sartorious, Killer Bee, etc) She is in the story for a full 2 1/2 chapters. Jasmine, is not an Oc, and is in fact Junko, I just prefer her English name. And please, the next time you decide to leave an anonymous review, slamming the fact that I have an oc for two and a half chapters in a story in a side role, please check your facts enough to know only one is an oc. And don't leave a scathing review about how 'it all started off so well, but then you used originality, and I hate when people don't warn me they are gonna do that! So rather than seeing if it gets better, I'm going to insult their names and stop reading' . You didn't like it? Oh no, I really don't want to hear about it, unless you have something constructive to say, and con crit isn't "I don't like these, write it different!" It is "Your punctuation is a bit off, there should have been a semi-colon after they in the second paragraph." Or "You are misspelling random words, do you need a beta?" or even "I feel like a character got a personality transplant, is this intentional?" Please be polite, and respectful, and I won't get irritated.

Also, let it be known, I do not like Oc's. I have one to help plot along, just an added variable I can twist. Dragonheart is in my story "How to Survive a Horror Movie"(not the book by Seth Grahme-smith) As a main character, for that reason, and as it's pretty much crack, it doesn't matter. I don't mind Oc's in side roles (Manipulate the story) or as villains (Don't need to worry about being ooc) I actually like them as villains. :D .

As I am in college I cannot update as often as I would like, but I should have Bite, Door of the Bay, and The Medium, updated next weekend, yay December.

I'm sorry for all of my readers who are disappointed with the lack of updates, please, leave reviews and if they lift my spirits enough, I write faster. Otherwise I feel like nobody is reading and I leave stories alone until I have somebody to write for, they don't really go on hiatus, I just focus on other stories until I think of a new chapter, which can be done slower, because nobody is reading.

So if you are reading, please let me know, pm me or something, if you have an idea for the next chapter, let me know! I'd be glad to incorporate it If you have an idea of what you 'want' to happen in the next chapter, let me know! I might do it and dedicate the chapter to you.

Have a good day, all, thank you for dealing with my slow updating and ranting!


	9. Of Failed Plans and Meetings

Me: Okay, this is very late…

Jun: You can shoot to kill if you please.

Itachi: No, you cannot, because she is going to write the bloody story…Now.

Edo: She owns nothing, except apologies.

* * *

"No. That is a horrible idea." Edo maintained after a half an hour of argument. "Under no circumstances are either of you permitted to even think about trying that."

Jun and Itachi shared an exasperated sigh. "Edo." Jun attempted again "It would be so much easier if we-"

"No"

"But-" Itachi chimed in.

"No"

"But how-!"

"No"

"What's all this?" Tsunade questioned, finally entering Itachi's hospital room out of curiosity in the argument.

"These idiots" Edo gestured sharply with his head at the two Uchiha by the hospital bed "Want to let themselves get injured, and then try and lead the spirits out of the compound with their blood."

"Why in the hell would you try that!?" Tsunade gasped

Jun buried his head in his hands, all the while mumbling something about them being 'too damned alike.'

Itachi took a deep breath, which went unnoticed by Tsunade, not so much Edo. Who appeared to be ramping his ire up to explosive levels. "Well, Jun, Edo and I were talking, and they remembered something about dark spirits being attracted to misery and pain, so, why not try it? We don't have many options."

"No." The one syllable was intoned so flatly by both the Hokage and Edo that Itachi flinched. Let it be known that Itachi Uchiha doesn't flinch easily.

Jun raised his head from his hands and mentally prepared himself to begin the argument anew. This was going to be a very long day.

* * *

Sasuke groaned slightly as he awoke. His arms burned and pinched, his back felt like somebody had replaced his spine with a steel rod, and he had the strangest feeling that somebody had been throwing kunai at his head from point blank range. The second thing he noticed after the pain, was the fact that the room smelled of sanitizer, and the air was dry. Once he was fully aware, he realized the room was white. Not the soft darkness of his room, or the ramen smelling oddness of Naruto's home, it was bright, eye piercing white, and it forced him to clench his eyes shut.

"You awake?" A voice intoned

Sasuke risked a quick glance to the left, in the general vicinity of the sound, eyes still burning, from the damaging whiteness. "Hy-!" Sasuke cut himself off from questioning why Neji Hyuuga was here, when he felt the burning in his throat, and heard the hoarseness of his voice.

"Tsunade says you can have water." Neji said not unkindly "Do you want a glass?"

"Yeah." Sasuke croaked with a wince "sounds great."

With a concerned glance over his shoulder, Neji was gone.

"Mmph!"

Sasuke glanced over to the right side of the room, Kakashi was rousing himself from the uncomfortable looking couch. Sasuke merely blinked.

"Awake?"

"Sleeping."

Kakashi chuckled "Fine then, how're you feeling?"

Sasuke thought to himself, what was he feeling other than pain, for that matter, why was he in pain? Ah, evil ghosts. And….Oh, oh my.

Worried that his teacher would have him shipped to the mental ward of the hospital, Sasuke proceeded tentatively "Is, uh, Itachi…here?"

"He is." Seethed a new voice entering the room "And he's a freaking idiot like his dolt of a cousin. Glad to see you're up by the way." Bright blue eyes narrowed conspiratorially at the last statement.

"Please don't make my cousin think I'm mentally handicapped because you're paranoid."

"Paranoid? I think you might die."

"What? You think I'm going to die if I do this?" Jun said, mildly shocked

"Yes, I do think that, because there are too many variables for what you are considering to even be a plan. I do however _know_ that for even considering it, you should be sleeping on the couch for a month."

Jun looked shocked, "Look, if you're this worried we will change the plan, okay?"

"To avoid the dreaded couch?" Edo asked wryly

"To stop your worrying. You are going to go grey if you keep…Oh, too late!"

Jun dodged back to avoid the playful slap aimed at his head. Edo cleared his throat "So, uh, the reason I came in here was to check on Sasuke, but he's awake, so I'm going to go get dinner."

Jun whirled to see his cousin wide awake staring at him slack jawed "Jun?"

"I…That is…uh…Edo?"

"Shabu-Shabu* for you, got it, see-ya!" And Edo fled the room. Leaving Jun to stare down a person he had been most anxious to meet.

* * *

"What was that about?" Itachi questioned as Edo fled the room leaning, winded, against the wall.

Edo looked up from his hunched position to meet Itachi's eyes "Your dear cousin Jun can be a bit flighty, figured I'd force him into talking with Sasuke sooner rather than later."

"Oh?" Itachi looked more than amused "So you staged an argument you knew he would agree to when you felt Sasuke wake, and kept him interested until he was too far in the room to leave unnoticed?"

"Sounds about right." Edo intoned with a charming yet mischievous smile.

"Are you a Hyuuga or an Uchiha? Because that sounded way to subversive for a Hyuuga." Itachi said, mildly impressed

"We never did get around to any last name changes." Edo murmured thoughtfully, just to watch Itachi squirm at the thought of his cousin taking the Hyuuga surname. "But my surname is Phoenix, so that might be why as well." He finished cheerfully.

"You are something else."

"Yeah, the doctors are confused too."

Itachi rolled his eyes, at least his cousin found somebody fun. "Mental or physical doctors?"

"Both" Edo shrugged playfully "eat dinner with me, so your cousin has no excuse to leave when he gets uncomfortable?"

Itachi smirked "Sounds good. Where too?"

"You make it sound like I've been here before."

"Fine" Itachi said with a sigh "Follow me."

* * *

This chapters main purpose was to expand on Itachi's more expressive character, and skip right to Jun actually meeting Sasuke after many years apart. Next one should be better!

R&R!

*Shabu Shabu is a Japanese meat dish with very thin sliced beef that you grip in chopsticks and swipe through boiling broth to cook, it takes about two seconds to cook the beef, the noise it makes as you swipe it through the broth makes a 'shabu shabu' noise. You then dip it in various sauces if you choose. It is supposed to be delicious.


	10. The Trouble With Men, and ANBU

Me: I'm actually very sorry about this.

Entire cast: *Glares*

Me: No, really….

Edo: You left me in an unfinished story FOREVER.

Me: I don't own anything, and I'll start typing right away.

* * *

"This was a bad idea."

"Hn."

"You won't believe me, but I am sorry."

"…."

"I have heard you speak goddammit and I know you can."

"I'm aware."

The conversation came to a screeching halt when Itachi and Edo slid into an alleyway, out of sight. The one issue with Itachi's innocence was mainly that Tsunade hadn't announced it. He'd been taken to a hospital room to wait for a few days while preparations had been made, the medics had been made aware and his possessions (meager though they were) were taken to a storage facility. Itachi had been stealthy when walking around before. Unfortunately it seemed that a mixture of exhaustion and hunger had managed to slip his defenses. Needless to say the second Itachi and Edo had left the building, all the villagers had vanished and the A.N.B.U had appeared. They were hidden now.

"Let's…Return."

"Better than my ideas today."

* * *

"I thought it was a dream. But I know you, don't I? You're my cousin?"

Sitting up in bed Sasuke was clutching at the glass of water that Neji had brought back like a lifeline. His throat felt better, but he wouldn't be able to talk long, already his energy was ebbing. He'd been asleep for far too long.

Jun slid his hands into his pockets and tuned his head to the side slightly. Looking at Sasuke from the corner of his eye he just said "Yeah."

"So. You aren't dead?"

"No."

What've you been up to?"

* * *

Sakura almost punched herself, leaning over to Neji, she hissed "What, they don't see each other in years and this is all the conversation they can muster?"

"Hn. Uchiha's."

"Oh, like the Hyuuga are any better."

"Oh I don't know, Edo can be downright chatty. Especially when he's nervous."

Neji and Sakura whipped around to face Kakashi.

"When did you get over here?"

"When the awkward started."

* * *

"Eh. Got married. Came here."

For Sasuke's part he wasn't overly social, for Jun's part, he was about ready to pass out. He was the high strung one of his friends, or…adopted family. The last time he saw two family members in close quarters he was disowned.

"That's nice. So….you're good?"

"…..For the most part."

Even Neji groaned at that.

* * *

Edo slid in the door, carefully scoping out the area, before motioning Itachi inside. At which point the dark haired man slid his long pale hands over his face and sighed in exasperation.

"They are so _persistent_."

"I feel like that's a good thing for the Black Ops."

A red eyed glare was all Edo got in response before the eldest Uchiha in the building swept up the stairs.

"A misadventure. But intriguing nonetheless. " Edo murmured slowly ascending after his erstwhile cousin-in-law.

As luck would have it, Sasuke finally lost the fight with sleep mere moments before Itachi opened the door. So he instead entered to the sound of a deeply relieved sigh, and a small group to the side who seemed as if they had all developed sudden migraines.

"Hn?"

"No. Just….No." Was Sakura's only reply as she leapt from her chair and bolted past the new Uchiha, and almost colliding with the newly discovered Hyuuga. Apologizing swiftly, and leaving at a more sedate pace.

"Soooo, what was that?" Edo questioned, brushing imaginary dirt off of his clothing as he entered the room.

Jun sagged slightly and blushed lightly. "My conversation skills are slightly above that of a comatose patient."

"Nothing new then."

"Not really no."

At which point Kakashi looked up from his book "That's…sad. But I think we have other things to work on."

Neji closed his eyes and raised both hands to delicately circle his temples, Itachi closed his eyes and counted to ten. Very slowly. Jun developed a pounding headache and Edo just intoned "Regrettably" in a solemn voice.

How was this going to happen? For all of the time they enjoyed being lighthearted in the early hours of today, there was much to do, and it weighed heavily on them all.

* * *

I'm sorry this is mainly filler, I'm still really struggling with writers block. I needed something lighthearted, I'm working on some other updates and oneshots, but I'm truly sorry for the slow update time.


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